1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus equipped with a function of detecting a face of a person.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technique has been known for detecting the faces of persons from an input image and extracting features of the faces to perform individual discrimination in image processing in order to utilize the individual discrimination for recording, reproduction, management, and retrieval of the image. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-222118 discloses a technique utilizing the faces of persons extracted in an image pickup apparatus for control of photographing conditions and control of image processing.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-222118 discloses a technique pertinently adjusting photographing conditions, including control of an exposure amount, focusing control of an optical system, or the like, of a person in an object on the basis feature amounts of a face including a detected face image in accordance with characteristics of the object and preference of a user.
If a plurality of face areas is, however, detected from an image in the conventional face detecting processing, it is impossible to select, on the face area basis, a face area on which control and adjustment of photographing conditions are more effectively reflected and a face area on which the control and the adjustment of the photographing conditions are less effectively reflected. An upper limit and a lower limit of such effective reflection cannot consequently be compared and referred to easily, and ascertainment of whether degree of the effects in all the face areas to be subjected to the control and the adjustment is appropriate or not has been up to a judgment of a user. If the number of detected faces exceeds two, the effects to the face areas are medium degrees, the face areas having no necessity of being ascertained consequently increase, and both of the number of times and the time for operations of excluding the face areas unnecessary unusable for the control and the adjustment from operation objects then increase for a user.